--- Milwood sales stats

Overall, July was a good month for home sales in our Milwood neighborhood (78727 zip code) with 8 pending sales and 8 homes sold...both are well above our YTD averages for those categories.  And, days on market continue to trend lower.  We are now comparing apples-to-apples when looking at the same month of the previous year since the "Covid effect" is now gone that ended about May/June of 2022. This makes the stats more valid and useful.

Homes in our 78729 zip code didn't fare as well with only 1 home sold.  We did have 10 pendings, however, which is by far our best month of 2023 and nearly double our YTD average.  And, days on market continue to trend lower, too. 

It's not too late to put your home on the market this year. In our more typical sales year (ie-before Covid) we would see home listings begin to pick up in March to May (the most popular time to list) with sales continuing through the end of the summer. However due to the last 12 months being a transition period coming out of Covid, we have seen our typical sales cycle shift back a couple of months so I expect a stronger fall than normal. Contact me at 512-853-0110 (call/text) or email robert@AustinTxHomeSales.com if you are considering selling your home this year. 

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Homes in the 78727 zip code of our Milwood neighborhood didn't fare as well in June as they dd in May, with 7 pending sales and days on the market down at least.

Those home in our 78729 zip code, however, fared about the same as May did with 5 green categories.

Now that we are beginning to compare sales figures this year with the
same month last year that wasn't as negatively affected by the rapidly
rising mortgage rates, we may begin to see better numbers overall for
the remainder of this year.  For the newsletter I send out to clients,
I've compared the first five months of 2023 with the 5-year average for
these same 5 months of 2022 to better represent the change our Austin
metro has seen the past 12 months or so.  Otherwise, we are comparing
apples and oranges since we've had dramatically different markets during
that time.  

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May showed improving numbers for our Milwood neighborhood (78727 zip code) with 6 green categories and only 1 yellow.  We only had .60 months of inventory; highest Activity Ratio of the year; higher pendings; and our 9 home sales was nearly double last year's average and the sellers received an average of 3% over asking price.

Homes in our 78729 zip code had some good numbers, too, with lower days on market; lower inventory; and our 6 sellers received over their asking price.  These are positive signs that our Austin metro market has stabilized
from the downturn of last year and even showing signs of coming back to a
more normal Austin single family home sales market. This can be seen in
my recent blog post Austin home sales returning to normal.

Curious about the current value of your home given the softening of our
market from last year?  You can request a quick, one-time
computer generated CMA (Comparative Market Analysis) here: What's My Home Worth? 
There is no cost for this service.  Or, to request a more detailed CMA
based on your home's location and features, just text or email me at
512-853-0110, robert@AustinTxHomeSales.com. (no cost to you).

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April had somewhat better numbers in our Milwood neighborhood (78727 zip code homes) with 4 green categories vs. 2 in March.  While inventory has gone up the past 3 months, our 3.0 number last month is well below the standard 6.0 that brings us to a market in equilibrium.

Homes in our 78729 zip code fared similarly with 5 greens in April vs. 3 in March.  We believe the Austin metro market, as a whole, has reached the
bottom of the downturn we began around June of last year and are
beginning to see slight upticks in activity, too.  As interest rate
increases stop (we believe they may have for this year); inflation
subsides and home inventories remail low, we expect this to continue for
the rest of this year and into next.

 If you want to know how your home's market value is doing, be sure to get your regular Market Snapshot (free). 
This free service pulls data directly  from our MLS (Multiple
Listing Service) for similar homes in your neighborhood on a regular
basis (every 2, 4, 6, 8, or 12 weeks) and emails it to you. Create
one yourself for your home here: Market Snapshot. It takes
about 30 minutes to receive your report. Or, let me know if you, or
someone you know, wants me to create a Market Snapshot for their home or
even a traditional CMA (Comparative Market Analysis).   

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Homes in our Milwood neighborhood (78727 zip code) were a mixed bag of home sales results with some positives (1.8 month of inventory vs. 2.6 avg last year), but our Activity ratio and sold prices/sf (down 14% YTD compared to 2022) continue to struggle.

The bright spots for homes in the 78729 zip code are our very low inventory (-88% from 2022 avg) and Activity Ratio (+133%).  Otherwise, average price/sf is down 8.8% YTD and days on the market remain high.

Curious about the current value of your home given the softening of our
market for the past 6-9 months? You can request a quick, one-time
computer generated CMA (Comparative Market Analysis) here: What's My Home Worth? There is no cost for this service.  

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On the one hand, home sales in our Milwood neighborhood (78727 zip code) are
still adjusting to the slowdown we saw the last half of 2022.  On the
other hand, the numbers above are comparing to Feb/2022 when our market
was still very hot at the end of our crazy Covid-19 2-year run.  So, we
are, in effect comparing apples and oranges due to the big differences
in the markets.  We saw a few more green categories last month, however.

Different categories, but still some positive signs in the stats for our 78729 zip code neighborhood.

If you want to know how your home's market value is doing, be sure to get your regular Market Snapshot (free).  This
free service pulls data directly from our MLS (Multiple Listing
Service) for similar homes in your neighborhood on a regular basis
(every 2, 4, 6, 8, or 12 weeks) and emails it to you. Create one
yourself for your home here: Market Snapshot. It
takes about 30 minutes to receive your report. Or, let me know if you,
or someone you know, wants me to create a Market Snapshot for their home
or even a traditional CMA (Comparative Market Analysis).        

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Our Milwood neighborhood (78727 zip code) continued with the slowdown felt here and around the Austin metro and country with only 1 green category above.  It was a bright spot since it was nearly double our 2022 monthly average of 5.2 homes.  Higher days on market, number of home sales and price/sf that the 2 sellers received, however, were worse than 2022.

Homes in the 78729 zip code fared similar malaise but with some different categories. 
I expect to see home prices moderate and even continue some decline for
the early part of 2023 with leveling and slight increases in them as the
year progresses.

Curious about the current value of your home given the softening of our
market for the past 6-9 months?  You can request a quick, one-time
computer generated CMA (Comparative Market Analysis) here: What's My Home Worth?  There is no cost for this service. 

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While we had 1 green category in Milwood (78727 zip code) in December, it was a marginal increase ($324.51/sf vs $324.14 last year), we had an overall poor month like we've had the past 4-5 months.  

2022 averages ended with a home sale price of $570,088 (+38,740 & 7% over 2021); our sellers received just OVER their asking prices; and our $354.72/sf sold average was over $20 more than 2021 sellers received.

Homes in our 78729 zip code fared better with 3 green categories:  1.6 months of inventory (lowest since May); Activity Ratio of 43% (best since Apr); and $257.61/sf was our best in 2 months.

We ended the year with an average $552,447 home sale price (+$47,752 & 9% over 2021 numbers); sellers received 1.2% OVER their asking prices; and our $275.63/sf home sale price was almost 12% over what our 2021 sellers recieved.

Yes, home listing (asking) prices dropped over the past 6 months or so, but the actual sold prices were up.  So, while the media wants to headline "home prices down", they are generally talking about asking vs. sold prices.

If you are considering selling this year, I encourage you to read these 2 articles:

• What Homeowners Want To Know About Selling in Today’s Market
• Ready To Sell? Today’s Housing Supply Gives You Two Opportunities

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November gave our Milwood neighborhood (78727 zip code) our 2nd month in a row of no-green categories.  Looks like we are going to finish 2022 with about 35 homes less sold (down about 35%) than in 2021 since we are currently at 59 homes sold (vs. 100 last year).  We are in the same boat as most of the Austin metro and nation have been the past 3-4 months with slowing sales across the board.

Homes in our 78729 zip code have fared a little better than 78727 with 78 homes sold compared to 104 last year so we should end up with around 80-85 with December sales (about 82%, or down 18%).

Just 1 more month to go in 2022 and I'm hoping our Austin metro area is
able to maintain a positive sales price appreciation with December's
numbers.  The last time average and median home sale prices dropped for
the entire year in Austin was in 2009 when median prices dropped .7% and
average prices dropped 2%. Median prices, alone, went down .5% in
2011.  Before that, it was the late 1980's before Austin home prices
dropped again so it is a rare event, indeed.  If you want to know how
your home's market value is doing, be sure to get your regular Market Snapshot (free).   This
free service pulls data directly from our MLS (Multiple Listing
Service) for similar homes in your neighborhood on a regular basis
(every 2, 4, 6, 8, or 12 weeks) and emails it to you. Create one
yourself for your home here: Market Snapshot. It
takes about 30 minutes to receive your report. Or, let me know if you,
or someone you know, wants me to create a Market Snapshot for their home
or even a traditional CMA (Comparative Market Analysis).   

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Well, October was our 1st month this year with all of our major categories at yellow...no greens.  Virtually no category looks good with too many homes on the market, too few pendings/solds; our highest inventory for over a decade, very low Activity Ratio, higher days on market and, most concerning: our average sold price/sf was down 16.4% from last year's sellers.

Interesting how the 2 zip codes for Milwood differ since our 78729 zip code has 12 homes sold (58% over our YTD avg) and our average price/sf hasn't dropped once this year (up 7.5% in Oct and 14.1% for the year).

My best advice to home sellers is that they will need to be extra
vigilant in pricing their home for sale and then be patient until they
get an offer.  We have rapidly moved into a more typical, or normal real
estate cycle, and, as of yet, haven't moved into buyer's market
territory (~6+ months of inventory).  So, sellers need to get their home
in tip-top shape, stage it well, price it "to the market" (your Realtor
will understand), and market it heavily.  Or, simply wait until next
spring when many think we will be past the worst of this downturn.  

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September brought more of the same slowing numbers in most categories for homes in our Milwood neighborhood (78727 zip code).  However, our average sale prices were up 18.2% vs. Sep/2021 prices which is actually higher than the 10% rise in August.  So, our neighborhood bucks the trend of most of the Austin metro that is seeing an overall slowdown in the home sales market.

Homes in our 78729 zip code fared even better with 12 pending home sales (vs. our YTD 7.6!) and we also had average sale prices go up over Sep/2021 by 7%.  Both zip codes continue to have far too many listings on the market for this time of year and with the slowdown.

 If you are a homeowner and just want a general idea of your home’s
value or to keep up with it during our changing market, I recommend the “Market Snapshot” program. This free service
pulls data directly from our MLS (Multiple Listing Service) for similar
homes in your neighborhood on a regular basis (every 2, 4, 6, 8, or 12
weeks) and emails it to you. Create one yourself for your home here: Market Snapshot.
It takes about 30 minutes to receive your report. Or, let me know if
you, or someone you know, wants me to create a Market Snapshot for their
home or even a traditional CMA (Comparative Market Analysis).  

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August home sales activity in our Milwood neighborhood (78727 zip code) were very similar to July's and what we've seen the past several months.  Our 5 home sellers did manage to get prices that were 10% over 2021 home prices, however, so pricing is holding up in spite of our lower activity.

Homes in the 78729 zip code had very similar numbers, yet they eked out 8.6% higher prices than 2021 sellers received.

We are now heading into fall which has always been our traditional time
when home sales slow as we move into winter.  Our normal home sales
market cycle has been in the shape of a a bell curve with the lowest
activity in January;  rising listings/buyers in the spring; peaking
during the summer months (so buyers can relocate their kids to new
schools if necessary); and slowing during the fall/winter months.  Most
real estate experts believe (myself included) that the Covid home buying
frenzy is gone and we are now settling into a normal market cycle. 
Home sellers would be wise to heed this change and price their homes
according to our slowing activity going forward.    

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This marks the 3rd month in a row that home sales activity in our Milwood (78727 zip code) neighborhood has declined in virtually all categories: 
Listings are up; days on market and inventory are up; and Activity Ratio
is down.  Pricing has also gone down our
average price/sf sold moving from $402 (May) to $387 (Jun)
to $345 (Jul), but we are still seeing an average double-digit price/sf appreciation over 2021 home prices.

Somewhat similar situation for homes in our 78729 section except:  our inventory shot up to 15 months with 30 homes on the market and our sellers received just over their listing prices at $303.27/sf (+23% over 2021 prices!).

In my opinion after being an Austin Realtor for 16 years is that our
Austin home sales market is like a plane coming in for a landing from a
very high altitude that gently glides to the runway...no abrupt descents
but a slow and steady descent.  The home price drops and homes staying
on the market longer you've undoubtedly seen  the past 2-3 months are
the result of improper list prices to begin with.  For example:  Before Covid, Realtors
would run a CMA (comparative market analysis) for a home and list it at
the $500k the CMA showed which was the average of the past 3-5
comparable sales (comps).  Sellers expected to receive 95-100% of this
price and, if lucky, would get multiple offers that would push it
higher.  

Since Covid (until a few months ago),
however, that same $500k home would have likely received multiple offers
and gone for, say, $600k.  Smart sellers and their Realtors realized
they shouldn't price it at the $600k like the last sales and what we did
Before Covid because the $100k runup was the result of "buyer frenzy"
created since Covid...but, at the same $500k the others listed
their home at. This allowed the unpredictable "buyer frenzy" to run up
the price to whatever the last wiling buyer would pay and take into
account the current "buyer frenzy of the day" since Covid has changed
things so much.  

Sellers and Realtors who didn't heed this advice
are now "lowering their prices" simply because they thought the buyer
frenzy would last forever, which it has been proved waned the past few
months as mortgage rates shot up and economic uncertainties darken the
horizon.  If they had priced at $500k, maybe the buyers would have taken
it to $525k, $550k, $557k, etc and they wouldn't be dropping their
prices, but simply selling their home  at a lower price appreciation
rate than sellers got 6+ months ago.  Home prices in the Austin metro still rose in June by 13-14% over June/2021 and in our local neighborhood mentioned above, prices also rose relative to July/2022, too.  So, the sky isn't falling and Chicken Little will have to wait a little longer! :)

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We continued to see slower upfront sales activity (for sale and pending) in June in our Milwood neighborhood (78727 zip homes) with yellows in all major categories.  Our 4 home sales compares to our YTD avg of 6.5 and last year's 8.33/mo average.  Sold home prices continued in positive territory, however, eking out $377.16/sf which was 16.4% more than in 2022.

Homes in the 78729 zip code of our neighborhood mirrored the 78727 area almost identically matching colored categories exactly. 

 We've seen a similar trend in our greater Austin metro area beginning in March as mortgage rates began their upward movement from the low we began this year with of 3.22% (5.30% as of 7/7/22). This, coupled with rising inflation and concern about a nationwide recession has rightfully spooked some home buyers. This is reflected in our recent price reductions on some homes currently on the market. So, it is now more important for home sellers to price their home right than it has been since we began our 2-year home sales hot streak after the Covid lockdowns. Contact me if you are thinking about selling your home so I can show you how I do just that for my home sellers so they don't have to "chase the market down" with price reductions.

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 May home sales numbers for our Milwood neighborhood (78727 zip) just might finally show the effect of rising mortgage rates we've seen for most of
this year.  Most of our front-end indicators like homes for sale, rising inventory, lower Activity Ratio and higher days on market all point to some slowing down.  How long this lasts and how deeply it goes will only be discovered as the next few months progress, but I believe it might be somewhat short-lived due to the incredible economy, jobs and demand for housing we have in Austin...one of the best, if not the best city for home sales in the U.S.  

Similarly, homes in our 78729 zip code had much the same issues with 4 yellows in our front-end indicator categories, but our days on market are still trending well.

As you've seen in my posts since the Covid lockdown, our Austin metro real estate market is setting records with crazy appreciation numbers.  So, if you are a homeowner and just want a general idea of your home’s value, I recommend the “Market Snapshot” program. This free service pulls data directly from our MLS (Multiple Listing Service) for similar homes in your neighborhood on a regular basis (every 2, 4, 6, 8, or 12 weeks) and emails it to you. Create one yourself for your home here: Market Snapshot. It takes about 30 minutes to receive your report. Or, let me know if you, or someone you know, wants me to create a Market Snapshot for their home or even a traditional CMA (Comparative Market Analysis).   Contact me at robert@AustinTxHomeSales.com or 512-853-0110 (phone or text). 

You can also request a quick, one-time computer generated CMA here:  What's My Home Worth?

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Other than having a few too many homes for sale and for too many days, April turned in a very solid month for home sales in our Milwood neighborhood (78727 zip code) with 11 pending listings (have contract but not closed).   Also, our 7 sellers received 5.8% over their asking price at $400.51/sf which is an incredible $23.6% over last year's prices!

We had similar results for the 78729 zip code section of our neighborhood:  a few too many homes for sale, but better ADOM; 10 home sales; sellers received 6.4% over asking price at $295.73/sf or nearly 20% over last year's prices.

Did you know you can exclude most, if not all of the taxable income from the gain on the sale of your home?  The IRS allows a seller to exclude from taxable income a gain of up to $250,000 on the sale of their home (or $500,000 if married filing jointly) if they:

• owned the home and used it as their principal residence during at least two of the last five years before the sale

• didn’t acquire the home through a 1031 exchange during the past five years

• didn’t exclude a gain on another home sold during the two years before the current sale

To learn more, see:  Excluding Gain from the Sale of Your Home. It might make sense to cash-in on the large equity gain most Austin-area homeowners have seen since the bull market began in spring of 2011. You could then re-leverage the equity into another home and/or investment property.  Contact me today by phone/text at (512) 853-0110 or via email at robert@AustinTxHomeSales.com if you would like a free, no-obligation market analysis (CMA) of your home to see how much you would net from the sale.

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Our Milwood neighborhood (78727 zip code homes) bounced back in March with home sales, especially, going from only 3 in Feb to 9 last month (compare to 8.33/mo in 2021).  Also, we had no yellows; our inventory dropped to only .20 months (vs. .70/mo in 2021); and our 9 sellers received 6.7% over their asking price in only 4 days at $355.88/sf or 9.8% over 2021 prices.

We had a similar situation for homes in our 78729 zip code section with no yellows; lower inventory; an incredible 12 homes sold (vs. 8.67/mo avg in 2021) and our sellers received 10.4% over their asking price at $306.83/sf which was 24.2% more than last year's sellers received.

Have you been hounded with calls and/or mailings to buy your home quick…for cash? This might sound like an attractive option until you consider that we now have more buyers for our homes than at any other time in Austin history.  So, why would you settle for only ONE offer that might sound good, when you could get multiple offers from buyers bidding up the price in our red-hot Austin market?  Are you concerned that selling your home quickly would only throw you into the pool of frenzied home buyers when looking for your replacement home in the Austin metro and the possibility of not having a place to live once your existing home sells?  Well, I have a solution for you where you can buy your next home for cash (so you can compete with other cash buyers), move into it and then sell your home for top dollar using our large pool of buyers!  Perfect solution, right?  Contact me at 512-853-0110 (call or text) or, robert@AustinTxHomeSales.com to find out more.  

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February continues the interesting start to 2022 in our Milwood neighborhood (78727 zip) with only 3 homes sold in Feb vs. our 8.33/mo average in 2021; and increasing days on market for 2 categories.  We did, however, have 11 pendings (vs. 9.8/mo in 2021) and our sellers received 4.6% over asking price at $390.56/sf which is 20.5% over last year's pricing.  

Homes in our 78729 zip code had a very similar situation in the same categories.  

As you've seen in my posts since the Covid lockdown, our Austin metro real estate market is setting records with crazy appreciation numbers. 
So, if you are a homeowner and just want a general idea of your home’s value, I recommend the “Market Snapshot” program. This free service
pulls data directly from our MLS (Multiple Listing Service) for similar homes in your neighborhood on a regular basis (every 2, 4, 6, 8, or 12 weeks) and emails it to you. Create one yourself for your home here: Market Snapshot. It takes about 30 minutes to receive your report. Or, let me know if you, or someone you know, wants me to create a Market Snapshot for their home or even a traditional CMA (Comparative Market Analysis).   Contact me at robert@AustinTxHomeSales.com or 512-853-0110 (phone or text). 

You can also request a quick, one-time computer generated CMA here:  What's My Home Worth?

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Home sales activity for our Milwood neighborhood (78727 zip) started off with a mixed bag of negatives:  Low pending and sold homes and homeowner's receiving 98.5% of their asking price;  but, also some good positives:  Inventory and Activity Ratios both were better than our 2021 averages and our home sellers received an astounding $328.77/sf (+31% over 2021's average of $251.51!).

Homes in the 78729 zip code section of our neighborhood fared about the same, and their home prices were $261.49/sf, or 38.5% more than the average of $188.85/sf that our 2021 sellers received.

Have you been hounded with calls and/or mailings to buy your home quick…for cash?  This might sound like an attractive option until you consider  that we now have more buyers for our homes than at any other time in Austin history.  So, why would you settle for only 1 offer that might sound good, when you could get multiple offers from buyers bidding up the price?  

Are you concerned that selling your home quickly would only throw you into the pool of frenzied home buyers when looking for your replacement home in the Austin metro and the possibility of not having a place to live once your existing home sells?  Well, I have a solution for you where you can buy  your next home for cash (so you can compete with other cash buyers), move into it and then sell your home for top dollar using our large pool of buyers!  Perfect solution, right?  Contact me at 512.853.0110 (call or text) or, robert@AustinTxHomeSales.com to find out more.  

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December was a solid month for our Milwood neighborhood (78727 zip code) with double-digit home sales; sellers received 3.4% over asking price and at $347.83/sf (+38% over 2020).  Days on market were up, however.

A bit of a mixed bag for all of 2021 with too many homes for sale; lower activity ratio and increased inventory being our negatives.  But, our pricing remained strong with our average home sale price now over $.5M at $531,347 and our 100 sellers received 3.4% over their asking price at appreciation rates 165% higher than 2020!

Homes in our 78729 zip code was a bit slower than 78727 but pricing remained strong.

For all of 2020, we had too many homes on the market each month, but we sold 17% more homes than in 2020; our average price also eclipsed $.5M at $504,695; and our sellers got 7.2% over their asking price at appreciation rates 127% over 2020 sales.

 With the new year, many homeowners turn to the possibility of selling their home.   If you are a homeowner and just want a general idea of your home’s
value, I recommend the “Market Snapshot” program. This free service pulls data directly from our MLS (Multiple Listing Service) for similar homes in your neighborhood on a regular basis (every 2, 4, 6, 8, or 12 weeks) and emails it to you. Create one yourself for your home here: Market Snapshot. It takes about 30 minutes to receive your report. Or, let me know if you, or someone you know, wants me to create a Market Snapshot for their home or even a traditional CMA (Comparative Market Analysis).    

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With the exception of homes taking longer to get under contract, November was a very solid month for our Milwood (78727 zip code) neighborhood.  We finally got our listings (for sale) number down for the 1st time in months; had only .10 month of inventory; solid pending numbers and our best month of the year in home sales at 14.  Also, our sellers received $298.60/sf which is nearly 19% over last year's numbers.  For the year, we've averaged 28% price appreciation.

Homes in our 78729 zip code didn't fare as well with only 4 pending home sales (vs. our 8.7/mo YTD avg).  Our home sellers, however, did get 3.7% over asking price at @282.56/sf  which is nearly 50% OVER our 2020 prices!!

The general consensus among Realtors and local economists is that our
Austin real estate market is beginning to “normalize” back into what we
usually see each year–a Bell curve of slow sales in January rising in
the spring to a peak in the summer and then gradually going back down to
December.  Our inventory remains extremely low at around 1 month for
the Austin metro area so price appreciation will remain higher than
normal until this sufficiently rises.  Keep in mind that Austin has
averaged 2-3 months of inventory between 2012 (after we came out of the
Great Recession) until about 18 months ago when our current market surge
started after Covid-19.

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October home sales in our Milwood neighborhood (78727 zip code) fared just about the same as we saw in September with the exception of our Activity Ratio and sold days on the market which both came in a little better in October.  

Homes in the 78729 zip code section of our neighborhood, however, didn't fare as well with an overall slower month in October vs. September.  We had the same yellow categories with each month, except October added days on market for sellers, lower Activity Ratio, and only 7 homes were sold. 

Under a typical (ie-”normal”) year, 42% of homes sold in the Austin metro area sell during the 50% of the year from October to March.  A common myth is that you have to sell your home during the spring/summer months to have the best chance, but the percentages above prove that wrong. Homes that are in great condition, staged properly, and priced right sell year-round in our area. This year has been anything but “normal” due to the effects of Covid-19, so I fully expect this % to be much higher than our typical real estate cycle which may remain strong through the end of this year.  If you are interested in selling your home, see just some of the steps we take to get homes sold quickly and for top dollar:  Marketing Plan to Sell Your Home. Call/text us at 512-853-0110 or email us at robert@AustinTxHomeSales.com to get your free, no-obligation market analysis (CMA) and to see how much you can net from your home sale.

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September home sales in our Milwood neighborhood (78727 zip code) had many more yellows than we've had this year (our 1 month in 2021 with 5 of them) and 3 were in higher days on market.  We also have too many homes for sale and our Activity Ratio dropped.  However, we did have 11 Pending sales (vs. 9.3 YTD avg) and 13 sales which was near double our YTD avg of 7.5.

Homes in the 78729 zip code of our neighborhood fared slightly better with 4 yellows.  Our 13 pendings was 41% higher than our YTD average and our 13 home sales tied the with our highest month in 2021 and the sellers received $250.77/sf (33% over 2020 sellers).

If you are a homeowner and just want a general idea of your home’s value, I recommend the “Market Snapshot” program. This free service pulls data directly from our MLS (Multiple Listing Service) for similar homes in your neighborhood on a regular basis (every 2, 4, 6, 8, or 12 weeks) and emails it to you. Create one yourself for your home here: Market Snapshot. It takes about 30 minutes to receive your report. Or, let me know if you, or someone you know, wants me to create a Market Snapshot for their home or even a traditional CMA (Comparative Market Analysis).

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August home sales results in our Milwood neighborhood (78727 zip code) were similar to July's numbers.  While we have had too many homes for sale our our inventory is rising, our pending and sold home numbers still look good.  In fact, our 9 home sellers received nearly 5% over their asking price and got $327/sf which is 30% over our 2020 average price/sft.  Days on market rose in 2 categories so we will monitor to see if we are starting to see the market slowdown the greater Austin area has seen the past few months.

Homes in our 78729 zip code showed more signs of cooling of, however with 5 yellow categories (following 4 in Jul and 3 in June).  Days on market were up and we have too many homes for sale and too few sold in August.  The home sellers, however, did get 2% over asking price and at $250/sf which was 32% over our 2020 avg price/sf!

Under a typical (ie-”normal”) year, 42% of homes sold in the Austin metro area sell during the 50% of the year from October to March.  A common myth is that you have to sell your home during the spring/summer months to have the best chance, but the percentages above prove that wrong. Homes that are in great condition, staged properly, and priced right sell year-round in our area. This year has been anything but “normal” due to the effects of Covid-19, so I fully expect this % to be much higher than our typical real estate cycle which may remain strong through the end of this year.  If you are interested in selling your home, see just some of the steps we take to get homes sold quickly and for top dollar:  Marketing Plan to Sell Your Home. Call/text us at 512-853-0110 or email us at robert@AustinTxHomeSales.com to get your free, no-obligation market analysis (CMA) and to see how much you can net from your home sale.

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There were slowdowns (ie-yellows) on our activity categories like the number of homes for sale, days on market, inventory and our Activity Ratio in the 78727 section of our Milwood neighborhood.  However, we had some very good green categories, too, with 11 pending homes, 9 home sales (our 2nd best of the year), and our sellers received 17% over their asking at $361.70/sf (+43.8% over 2020) in only 4 days.  Our average appreciation rate this year is +29% vs 10.9% last year.

Homes in the 78729 zip code of Milwood had similar numbers but more slowing in activity.  This might be a reflection of the market stabilization we’ve seen in the Austin metro the past several months.  There are various opinions on whether this is the beginning of a general cool-down in our market or just a temporary lull…I’m still undecided since there hasn’t been enough months of slower activity yet for me to state it is a cool-down.  We did have 13 homes sold last month (tied for our best this year) and our sellers received 6% over asking at $267.89/sf (+41.9% over 2020) so it was definitely a mixed bag for the 78729 zip code section.

If you are considering selling this year, contact us to receive a free, no obligation market analysis (CMA) for your home.  It is not too late in the season to list your home for sale as our local market has been strong for 12 months in a row. Call/text us at 512-853-0110 or by email robert@AustinTxHomeSales.com to receive yours today.  See just some of the steps we take to get your home sold quickly and for top dollar: Marketing Plan to Sell Your Home.

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June produced very similar results as May did for our Milwood neighborhood (78727 zip code) with 13 pending home sales (+68% of our YTD avg) and our 8 home sellers got nearly 10% over their asking price at $315.91/sf (+26% over last year's sellers).

June brought mixed results to homes in the 78729 section of Milwood with only 6 home sales.  But, we did have 12 pending sales (our 2nd best this year) and our sellers received 11% over their asking price at $263.75/sf (+34% over 2020 prices).

As you’ve seen in my posts the past 9 months or so, our Austin metro real estate market is setting records with crazy appreciation numbers.  So, if you are a homeowner and just want a general idea of your home’s value, I recommend the “Market Snapshot” program. This free service pulls data directly from our MLS (Multiple Listing Service) for similar homes in your neighborhood on a regular basis (every 2, 4, 6, 8, or 12 weeks) and emails it to you. Create one yourself for your home here: Market Snapshot. It takes about 30 minutes to receive your report. Or, let me know if you, or someone you know, wants me to create a Market Snapshot for their home or even a traditional CMA (Comparative Market Analysis).

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Homes in our 78727 zip code section of Milwood bounced out of the funk we've been in most of this year with our best sales month and 2nd best pending sales month.  Our 11 pending sales followed 12 in April (we averaged 9/mo in 2020), but we average a measly 3.33/mo the 1st quarter of 2021.  Our 8 home sales was just above our 2020 average and our owners received 13% over asking price in 7 days at $331.05/sf (+31.6% over 2020 prices).

Milwood homes in the 78729 zip code didn't fare as well with a mostly average month in May.  Our 9 home sellers did get 15.6% over their asking price at $270.33/sf or 43.1% more than 2020 sellers received.  

Are you considering selling your home this year?  The incredible buyer frenzy we've seen the past 9 months has caused multiple-offers in most situations and 10, 20, 30+% over asking price for many sellers.  Unprecedented and historic for the Austin metro area.  The most common question I receive is "When will this bubble pop?".  While I don't have a crystal ball, I do believe it has more time to continue its run, but at a gradually slowing appreciation rate in the coming months.  If you are concerned it might turn against sellers soon, contact me so I can run a market analysis (no charge) to see what you can net from the sale of your home and capture your equity to protect it if, indeed, the market does crash.  

Call/text me at 512-853-0110 or by email robert@AustinTxHomeSales.com

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Home sales in our Milwood neighborhood (78727 zip code) have been in a rut at 3/mo for the past 3 months, but we did see a big jump in pending sales with 12 homes so these should translate into sales in May.  Also, our home sellers received 11% OVER their asking price at 15% more than 2020 sellers received.  In fact, we are averaging nearly 27% appreciation thru April vs. 2020!

The 78729 zip code section of Milwood fared better with 10 home sales (after 13 last month) and we are trending over our 2020 average.  Our sellers got 18% OVER asking price at an incredible 47% appreciation over our 2020 home prices!  YTD, we are averaging 19% appreciation over last year.

Are you considering selling your home, but are concerned that you will have difficulty finding a replacement in the Austin area due to our low inventory?  This is a common question we get when asking someone if they want to sell their home and capture the equity.  I have several proven methods to handle the changeover for you to reduce any stress associated with the sale of your home & purchase of the next one. Contact me today so we can go over the best option for your situation. Phone/text: 512-853-0110 or via email: robert@AustinTxHomeSales.com.

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March was an OK month for our Milwood neighborhood (78727 zip code section) with average numbers for some of the categories; yellows on days on market for actives and only 3 homes sold (less than half our 2020 monthly avg).  We did have good Pending numbers and our 3 sellers received 16.4% OVER asking price in only 7 days at $302.47/sf whis was 20.3% OVER our 2020 prices.

Homes in our 78729 zip section of Milwood fared better with lower days on market in all 3 categories; an incredible 13 sales (nearly DOUBLE our 2020 monthly avg!) and they got nearly 20% OVER their asking price at $249.05/sf which was a phenomenal 31.9% OVER our 2020 prices!

If you are considering selling this year, contact us to receive a free, no obligation market analysis (CMA) for your home.  March, April & May are the most popular months to list a home for sale. Call/text us at 512-853-0110 or by email robert@AustinTxHomeSales.com to receive yours today.  See just some of the steps we take to get your home sold quickly and for top dollar: Marketing Plan to Sell Your Home. 

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For the most part, February was a rough month for us in our Milwood neighborhood (78727 zip code) with off numbers in all three categories for the numbers of listings for sale, pending and sales.  Our inventory jumped to 1.0 months (vs. our .40 avg in 2020) but keep in mind that anything under 6 months is considered a seller's market, so we are still doing fine.  Due to our low numbers mentioned previously, our Activity ratio dropped to 50% (vs. 77% 2020 avg).  On the plus side, our 3 home sellers got 30.4% OVER their asking price for a price/sf that was 49.6% MORE than 2020 sellers received!

Home sales in the 78729 section of Milwood fared much better with lower days on market for all 3 categories; only .10 months of inventory (.60 avg in 2020); 83% Activity ratio; and our 7 home sellers received 12.3% OVER their asking price at $220.64/sf which is 16.8% more than last year's sellers received.

As you’ve seen in my posts the past 6 months or so, our Austin metro real estate market is setting records with crazy appreciation numbers.  So, if you are a homeowner and just want a general idea of your home’s value, I recommend the “Market Snapshot” program. This free service pulls data directly from our MLS (Multiple Listing Service) for similar homes in your neighborhood on a regular basis (every 2, 4, 6, 8, or 12 weeks) and emails it to you. Create one yourself for your home here: Market Snapshot. It takes about 30 minutes to receive your report. Or, let me know if you, or someone you know, wants me to create a Market Snapshot for their home or even a traditional CMA (Comparative Market Analysis).

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No homes for sale in our Milwood neighborhood (78727 zip code section) of 2,138 homes reflects the crazy hot market we've had in the Austin metro the past few months.  Notice that the 8 sellers averaged $308.56/sf which is 22.7% more than sellers received last year (an avg of 10.9%)!   And, they got 8.5% MORE than their asking price!  Every month in 2020 also got more than their asking price except 1 month.

Homes in the 78729 section of Milwood didn't have quite the sales activity as 78727, but still had 13 pending sales (future indicator of market condition) and days on the market went down in all 3 categories.  And, like 78727, every month in 2020 had sellers receiving OVER their asking price.

You may have heard that the past few months have been red-hot for sellers in the entire Austin metro area (5 counties and about 2.2M people)…multiple offers and 10-20% over asking price is more the norm now!   So, if you have been putting off selling because you need to do some updates; don’t want to deal with the hassle of handling showings of your home; need more time to find a replacement home once yours sells; have been concerned the net amount you would take home at closing isn’t enough; etc…please contact me so I can show you we now have solutions for any/all of the above situations!

Call/text me at 512-853-0110 or by email robert@AustinTxHomeSales.com so I can understand your situation and provide you with solutions that will alleviate your concerns!  

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Homes in the 78727 zip code of our Milwood community had the best month in December of all of 2020 with: 10 green categories and no yellow ones.  We tied for our lowest monthly inventory; 2nd highest Activity Ratio; 3rd best sales month; 2nd highest sold/list ratio at 103% and had our 2nd highest price/sf at $265.79.

When you consider Austin was shut down for about 2 months due to Covid-19, we did very well for the year, too with no yellow categories and good numbers with our greens including a $251.51/price/sf which was nearly 11% over 2019.

Like 78727 homes, the 78729 section of Milwood also finished with one of our best months in 2020 with: only 1 yellow and 8 green categories including lower days on market; sellers getting 2.7% OVER asking and at an average of $199.92/sf (+20.3% over 2019 sellers!).

Much like we ended the year, 78729 zip code sellers only had 1 yellow category and 7 green categories in spite of the Austin Covid-19 shutdown last spring.

If you are considering selling this year, contact us to receive a free, no obligation market analysis (CMA) for your home.  March, April & May are the most popular months to list a home for sale. Call/text us at 512-853-0110 or by email robert@AustinTxHomeSales.com to receive yours today.  See just some of the steps we take to get your home sold quickly and for top dollar: Marketing Plan to Sell Your Home.

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November was a solid month for home sales in our Milwood neighborhood (78727 zip code) with no yellow categories and: only 1 home for sale (& only .10 months of inventory) going into our slower winter months; days on market dropped in 2 categories; our Activity Ratio shot up to 91% (our highest month of the year) and our 7 home sellers received $249.75/sf (10.3% MORE than 2019 sellers).

November homes sales in our 78729 zip code fell off some from October's great month with only 3 green categories (vs. 7 in October).  our 8 home sellers, however did get 3.3% OVER asking price at $214.04/sf which is an incredible 28.8% MORE than 2019 sales!

Did you know you can exclude most, if not all of the taxable income from the gain on the sale of your home?  The IRS allows a seller to exclude from taxable income a gain of up to $250,000 on the sale of their home (or $500,000 if married filing jointly) if they:

• owned the home and used it as their principal residence during at least two of the last five years before the sale

• didn’t acquire the home through a 1031 exchange during the past five years

• didn’t exclude a gain on another home sold during the two years before the current sale

To learn more, see:  Excluding Gain from the Sale of Your Home.  It might make sense to cash-in on the large equity gain most Austin-area homeowners have seen since the bull market began in spring of 2011. Contact us today by phone/text at (512) 853-0110 or via email at robert@AustinTxHomeSales.com if you would like a free, no-obligation market analysis (CMA) of your home to see how much you would net from the sale.

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October was a solid month for homes sales in our Milwood neighborhood (78727 zip code homes) with:  only 2 homes for sale going into our traditionally slower winter months; only .20 months of inventory (less than 6 is a seller's market!); 12 home sales (+54% over our YTD avg); and our sellers got 1.6% OVER their asking price in only 5 days for $256.17/sf (+13% over 2019 sellers).

October was an excellent month for homes in the 78729 section of our neighborhood with:  only 1 home for sale; .10 months of inventory; 13 pending home sales (53% over our YTD avg and tied with our best month this year); 93% Activity Ratio (100% is the max); and our 9 homes sellers received 1.6% OVER their asking price at a phenomenal $214.99/sf (29.3% OVER 2019 sellers!).

For those home sellers who just want a general idea of their home’s value, we recommend the “Market Snapshot” program. This free service pulls data from our MLS (Multiple Listing Service) for similar homes in your neighborhood on a regular basis (every 2, 4, 6, 8, or 12 weeks) and emails it to the homeowner. Create one yourself for your home here: Market Snapshot. It takes about 30 minutes to receive your report. Or, let us know if you, or someone you know, wants me to create a Market Snapshot for their home or even a traditional CMA (Comparative Market Analysis).

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Clearly, September was the best month of this year for  home sales in our Milwood community (78727 zip code) with: 11 pending sales (+20% over YTD avg); days on market way down in 2 categories; 17 sales (231% over our YTD avg!); our sellers received OVER their asking price and received 17.2% more/sf than 2019 sellers received!

Homes in our 78729 zip code didn't fare quite as well as 78727 with:  higher days on market in 2 of 3 categories and too many homes for sale (+77% of our YTD avg).  However, we did have 10 homes sales (our 2nd best month of this year) who got OVER their asking price at an incredible 22.7% MORE/sf than 2019 sellers received!

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August was a solid month for our Milwood neighborhood (78727 zip code) with: only 2 homes for sale & lower inventory; an incredible 15 pending sales (+67% over YTD avg & our best month since Jun/2015!); and our 6 sellers got 1.3% OVER their asking price at an incredible 21% MORE/sf than last years sellers!

Homes in our 78729 zip code had a mixed bag of results with 6 homes for sales (double our monthly avg); higher inventory and higher days on market our negatives; while for our positives:  we had 10 pending sales (+27% over our YTD avg) and our 6 sellers received 2.4% OVER their asking in only 5 days at 13.5% MORE than last years sellers!

Under a typical (ie-”normal”) year, 42% of homes sold in the Austin metro area sell during the 50% of the year from October to March.  A common myth is that you have to sell your home during the spring/summer months to have the best chance, but the percentages above prove that wrong. Homes that are in great condition, staged properly, and priced right sell year-round in our area. This year has been anything but “normal” due to the effects of Covid, so I fully expect this % to be much higher than our typical real estate cycle.  If you are interested in selling your home, see just some of the steps we take to get homes sold quickly and for top dollar: Marketing Plan to Sell Your Home. Call/text us at 512-853-0110 or email us at robert@AustinTxHomeSales.com to get your free, no-obligation market analysis (CMA) and to see how much you can net from your home sale.

July was a very strong month for home sales in our Milwood neighborhood (78727 zip code) with:  only 2 homes for sale; .30 months of inventory (half our YTD avg); 11 pending sales (a third more than our YTD avg); 85% Activity ratio (100% is max); and our 6 sellers got 1.3% MORE than their asking price at $259.18/sf (+14.3% over last years sellers!).

For some strange reason, the 78729 zip code section of our neighborhood had just the opposite...the worse month this year:  6 homes for sale (vs. our 2.7 YTD avg); 1.2 months of inventory (vs. our .70 YTD avg); 6 pending sales; 50% Activity ratio (vs. our 74% YTD avg); and our 5 home sellers only got 1.1% more/sf than last year's sellers.  Can't think of any reason why this happened and expect it to bounce back next month.

For those home sellers who aren’t sure about selling this year, or just want a general idea of their home’s value, we recommend the “Market Snapshot” program. This free service pulls data from our MLS (Multiple Listing Service) for similar homes in your neighborhood on a regular basis (every 2, 4, 6, 8, or 12 weeks) and emails it to the homeowner. Create one yourself for your home here: Market Snapshot. It takes about 30 minutes to receive your report. Or, let us know if you–or someone you know–wants me to create a Market Snapshot for their home.

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June represented another good month for home sales in our Milwood neighborhood (78727 zip) with: 12 pending sales (our highest of the year and 1.5 times our YTD avg); 7 home sales (tied with our best this year) who received 100% of their asking price and got $242.06/sf (+6.8% over 2019).

Since June marks the halfway mark of the year, how did we fare given that COVID-19 began affecting us in Feb/Mar?  As you can see below, we had a mixed bag of results:

For our 78729 zip code:

Homes in our 78729 zip code did quite well with sold numbers for pending and sales; only 1 home for sale (out of over 2,500); .20 months of inventory (less than half of our YTD avg; Activity ratio rose to 89%; and our 6 sellers got 1.9% OVER their asking price at $193.77/sf (+16.6% over 2019!).

Since June marks the halfway mark of the year, how did we fare given that COVID-19 began affecting us in Feb/Mar?  As you can see below, we did quite well:

Do you have an appreciation gain in a piece of real estate that isn’t your primary residence (it must be held for investment purposes) that you would like to sell, but don’t want to pay the capital gains taxes?   Did you know there is an easy way to avoid these taxes in this situation?   1031 Tax-Deferred Exchanges have been around since 1921 and allow you to do just that.  These gains can be deferred again and again if you sell that property in the future.  

I personally did this when I sold a piece of Austin commercial real estate property I co-owned in 2006 and was able to parlay most of my profit (I took some in cash, called “boot”) into two rent houses.  I didn’t pay taxes on the sale of the commercial property, but simply deferred it into the future.  Since I plan to use the rent houses as retirement supplement, I don’t plan to ever sell them so there would be no taxes due until my death when they would become part of my estate.  1031 Exchanges can be done with any “like-kind” property which is very broad and can include investment real estate, vacation houses, raw land, oil & gas, etc.  I have a contact with someone who does these exchanges and their company has completed over 160,000 exchanges…call me and I’ll be happy to provide you with their contact information.  No sense in paying Uncle Sam taxes if you don’t have to!

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May was possibly our best month of 2020 for our homes in the 78727 zip code.  While days on market was long and we had a few too many homes for sale, our positives were:  8 pending sales; 7 home sales (tied for our best month this year); our sellers received 1.5% OVER their asking price at an average $243.79/sf (+7.5% over 2019 sellers).

Our homes in the 78729 zip had more of a mixed bag of results with 3 yellows and 3 greens.  The best part is our 8 sellers who received offers in only 7 days at .80% MORE than their asking at $181.65/sf, or 9.3% more than last year's sellers received!

COVID-19, in effect, pressed “pause” on our Austin metro for 6 weeks from the middle of Mar thru the end of April.  Prior to that and since, our pending sales have been higher than 2019 numbers.  So, COVID-19 really just pushed our typical spring selling season back 6 weeks.  It is NOT too late to get your home listed and sold this year since we believe it will be an extended season.  If you are interested to know your home’s value, click “What’s My Home Worth?”.

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April presented a big test for our Austin real estate market since it was the first full month of sales data that had the full effect of the COVID-19 virus.  Surprisingly, April home sales data for our Milwood neighborhood (78727 zip code) actually went up slightly from March (which was only partially affected by COVID-19).

For instance, we had the same number of green categories in April vs. 4 in March and our yellows dropped by 1.  Our greens were surprisingly the same 4 categories and our only 2 yellows were higher days on market (understandable).  

Homes in our 78729 zip code didn't fare quite as well with 4 yellows (vs. 1 in Mar) and only 2 greens (vs. 4 in Mar).  Our sellers did receive 1.9% MORE than their asking price, however, and got 5.7% more/sf than 2019 sellers received. 

The bottom line:  If you need to sell your home this year, do as we always have by getting it in good shape, staging it properly, price it well and use the best photography/virtual tours you can find so buyers have the option to tour your home virtually if that is their preference (Survey: Quarter of Consumers Accept Virtual Home Buying).

All of my listings for sale use Matterport technology which provides photos, digital virtual walk-thru tour, 2D and 3D floor plans, dollhouse view and more to make it easy for a home buyer to look at the home from the comfort of their home.  “Buy your next home from the comfort of your home!”

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A slight drop off in March for our Milwood home sales (78727 zip code) when compared to Feb numbers:  homes for sale went up; inventory increased, and we only sold 3 homes (vs. our 5/mo YTD avg).

Our 78729 homes fared a little better and more like our Feb results with most categories in the average range.

COVID-19 began to have an effect on our local economy when the order to Shelter in Place took effect in the Austin metro on March 24th (Texas and the U.S. government suggesting smaller groups before that) so it isn’t surprising that our March numbers weren’t affected that much.  April results will be interesting to see, however. 

I hope you and your family haven’t been directly affected by this virus, economically or health-wise.  It is refreshing to hear our leaders begin to talk recently about ways to get us back to work and a more normal life, too.

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A mixed bag of results for homes in the 78727 zip code of our Milwood neighborhood in February.  On the plus side:  We had only 2 homes for sale;  low days on market for our pendings; and our 5 home sellers received 1.7% MORE than their asking price at $236.92/sf (4.5% more than 2019 sellers).  But, we only had 5 pendings (our 4th month in a row of below-average results) and only 5 home sales.

The 78729 section of our neighborhood fared better:  we had lower days on market with 2 categories; a 100% activity ratio (the highest possible); 11 home sales (vs. 8/mo avg last year); and our sellers received 3.3% MORE than asking at $181.09/sf (+8.9% over 2019).

March, April and May are the 3 biggest months each year in Austin for sellers to list their homes for sale.  Are you thinking of selling this year?  Did you know that you can receive up to $250k for a single person ($500k for a couple) of gain from the sale of your house INCOME TAX FREE?!  Here is the link to the IRS site with more information:  Gain from Sale of Residence.  Contact us at 512-853-0110 (phone/text) or info@AustinTxHomeSales.com to learn more. 

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Overall, January was a good start for home sales in our Milwood neighborhood (78727 zip code) with only 1 home for sale (during the slower winter months) which produced only .10 months of inventory (less than 6 is a seller's market!); our 7 sellers received 2.2% OVER their asking prices at $242.65/sf (7% more than 2019 sellers).  Our only real negative was a lower than average 4 pending sales.

Homes in our 78729 zip code had similar results with no homes for sale and only 2 sold (vs. our 8/mo avg in 2019).  However, we did have an incredible 13 pending sales (vs. 8.2/mo in 2019) which represented a 100% activity ratio (the highest possible) and our sellers received over their asking price at 6.9% more/sf than 2019 sellers received.

If you are considering selling this year, contact us to receive a free, no obligation market analysis (CMA) for your home.  March, April & May are the most popular months to list a home for sale. Call/text us at 512-853-0110 or by email info@AustinTxHomeSales.com to receive yours today.  See just some of the steps we take to get your home sold quickly and for top dollar: Marketing Plan to Sell Your Home.

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December produced a slight drop off in home sale stats for our Milwood neighborhood (78727 zip code): We had 7 pendings (vs. our 8/mo YTD avg); days on market went up in 2 categories; and our 7 home sellers received only $217.83/sf (2.9% more/sf than 2018 sellers received). However we did only have 1 home for sale (ie-lower inventory going into the slower winter months); only .10 month of inventory; and an 88% Activity Ratio.

For all of 2019, here are our averages:

2019 turned out to be an excellent year for us with: only 2.7 homes for sale each month; only .50 months of inventory; home prices up 9%; average price/sf up 7.1% to $226.73; and lower days on market for all 3 categories!

Much like our sister 78727 zip code in Milwood, we had a slight drop off in December: 5 pending sales (vs our 8.2/mo YTD avg); 5 home sales (vs. our 8.00/mo YTD avg) and days on market were up in 2 categories. Our 5 home sellers, however, did get an average of $161.33/sf which was 7.5% more than 2018 sellers received.

For all of 2019, here are our averages:

We ended up with a very solid year in 2019 for our home sales with: only 3.5 homes/mo for sale (vs 2018's avg of 9.7); only .50 months of inventory (vs. 1.3 in 2018); Activity ratio shot up to 79% (vs. 46 in 2018); our average home price jumped to $335,072 (+14% over 2018); and our average price/sf went up to $166.23 (+10.7%).

If you are considering selling this year, please contact me to receive a free, no-obligation market analysis (CMA) for your home.  March, April & May are the most popular months to list a home for sale.  Call me at 512-853-0110 (phone/text) or by email robert@AustinTxHomeSales.com. 

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While we had a sharp downturn for home sales in our Milwood neighborhood (78727 zip code), it was similar to what we've experienced the past few Novembers. We have too many homes for sale (5 vs. our 2.8/mo YTD avg); too few pending home sales that have been on the market twice as long as our YTD avg; inventory jumped to 1.7 months (vs. our .50 YTD avg); and we only had 3 home sales (vs. our 7.5/mo YTD avg).

The 78729 zip code section of our neighborhood, however, fared much better with: only 1 home for sale (vs. our 3.5/mo YTD avg); our inventory plunged to only .10 month (a "Seller's Market" is less than 6 months, so you can see how strong this number is); our Activity Ratio went to 83%; and our 9 sellers received .8% OVER their asking price at $165.66/sf which is 10.3% over last year's number and they received offers in only 8 days! Maybe the influence of the upcoming Apple Computer campus is having already having an effect?

Did you know you can exclude most, if not all of the taxable income from the gain on the sale of your home?  The IRS allows a seller to exclude from taxable income a gain of up to $250,000 on the sale of their home (or $500,000 if married filing jointly) if they:

• owned the home and used it as their principal residence during at least two of the last five years before the sale

• didn’t acquire the home through a 1031 exchange during the past five years

• didn’t exclude a gain on another home sold during the two years before the current sale

To learn more, see:  Excluding Gain from the Sale of Your Home.  It might make sense to cash-in on the large equity gain most Austin-area homeowners have seen since the bull market began in spring of 2011. Contact us today by phone/text at (512) 730-1252 or via email at info@AustinTxHomeSales.com if you would like a free, no-obligation market analysis (CMA) of your home to see how much you would net from the sale.

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October showed signs of a slowdown in our Milwood neighborhood (78727 zip code) but this is common with fall/winter months having lower numbers than the spring/summer months. Our months of inventory rose some; we only had 2 home sales (vs our YTD avg of 7.9/mo); and our 2 home sellers received only 94.1% of their asking price.

October was a solid month for home sales in the 78729 section of Milwood with: 11 pending sales (vs. our YTD avg of 8.8); Activity ratio rose to 79%; days on market dropped; and our 6 sellers received 2.5% OVER their asking price at a sales price of 15.6% per square foot more than 2018 sellers received!

For those home sellers who aren’t sure about selling this year, or just want a general idea of their home’s value, we recommend the “Market Snapshot” program. This free service pulls data from our MLS (Multiple Listing Service) for similar homes in your neighborhood on a regular basis (every 2, 4, 6, 8, or 12 weeks) and emails it to the homeowner. Create one yourself for your home here: Market Snapshot. It takes about 30 minutes to receive your report. Or, let us know if you–or someone you know–wants me to create a Market Snapshot for their home.

We also have a similar program we can set up for you (or a friend/relative) even if you own property in another state.  It’s called ePropertyWatch.  Let us know if you would like that, too.

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A bit of a slowdown in September for home sales in our Milwood (78727 zip code) neighborhood, but not all that unusual since sales tend to slow down in the fall/winter. A few too many homes for sale and inventory up slightly, but only 2 pending sales. Our 8 home sellers, however, did get OVER asking price at 9.7% more/sf than last year's sellers received.

Mixed results for our 78729 zip code section with: too many homes for sales and too few pendings/sales; inventory jumped to 1.6 months (vs. our .60 YTD avg); and our activity ratio dropped.

Did you know that 42% of homes sold in the Austin metro area sell during the 50% of the year from October to March?  A common myth is that you should only sell your home during the spring/summer months, but the above statistic proves that wrong.  Homes that are in great condition, staged properly and priced right sell year-long in our area.  Call/text the Thomas & Kauffman Team at 512-730-1252 or email us at info@AustinTxHomeSales.com to get your free, no-obligation market analysis (CMA) to see how much you can net from your home sale.

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Overall, August was a good month for home sales in our Milwood neighborhood (78727 zip code) with: An incredible 12 home sales (highest month this year) who got offers in only 12 days at OVER asking price and sold at an incredible 13.5% MORE/sf than last year's sellers received!

Milwood homes in the 78729 zip code didn't do as well as 78727 did with average numbers for home sales and only 7 pending sales (vs. our 8.9/mo YTD avg). Our inventory did drop to only .30 months, however, and home sellers have been on the market for 31 days vs. our YTD monthly avg of 40.

Offering ammunition to agents who argue that iBuyers are often deceptively expensive, a new study by real estate data analyst Collateral Analytics has determined that the typical cost of using an iBuyer ranges between 13 and 15 percent.  Entitled “iBuyers: A new choice for home sellers but at what cost?” the study conflicts with claims made by some iBuyers on just how expensive such services wind up costing homeowners. Opendoor, for example, represents its service as more affordable than a real estate agent. But if the new research is correct, using an iBuyer would generally cost consumers two to three times more money than if they simply used a traditional agent.  This is right in line with the numbers we reported in this blog a few weeks ago with one of our own sales:  “Quick-offer” company loses home sale.  Contact the Thomas & Kauffman Team so we can discuss your particular situation if you are thinking of selling.  

Full Article here: iBuyers cost sellers up to 15% of a home’s value, study finds

Contact the Thomas & Kauffman Team today if you would like to buy or sell a home in the Austin metro area – (512) 730-1252 or info@AustinTxHomeSales.com.

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It is extremely rare for one the 5 neighborhoods we watch to get ALL green categories like our Milwood neighborhood (78727 zip) did in July! What's to say...we had a fantastic month!

Homes in our 78729 zip code didn't match the 78727's all-green feat, but it was nonetheless another solid month for home sales with only our 2nd month of double-digit home sales, lower days on market all around, and our 10 home sellers received a whopping 14.6% MORE than last year's sellers received!

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Overall, June was a solid month for home sales in our Milwood (78727 zip code): Fewer homes for sale; inventory remaining low; a very high 14 Pending sales (50% over our YTD avg); 88% Activity ratio; and our 5 home sellers received 100% of their asking price. Our only negative was just 5 homes sold vs. our 7.5/mo YTD avg.

For the 1st 6 months of 2019: The number of homes for sale/month; days on market in all 3 categories; our inventory is down (75% vs. 2018); and our Activity ratio is up by 61% when compared to 2018.

Homes in our 78729 zip code fared well, too with: days on market dropping in all 3 categories; the 8 home sellers received 2.4% OVER their asking prices; and they got an incredible 12.8% more/sf than 2018 sellers received.

For the 1st 6 months of 2019: Similar to our other zip code, the number of homes for sale/mo, inventory dropped by 67%, Activity ratio jumped by 70%, and our appreciation rate all did very well.

184 Things Real estate Agents Do To Earn Their Commission  Surveys show that many homeowners and homebuyers are not aware of the true value a REALTOR® provides during the course of a real estate transaction. At the same time, regrettably, REALTORS® have generally assumed that the expertise, professional knowledge and just plain hard work that go into bringing about a successful transaction were understood and appreciated.  Listed here are nearly 200 typical actions, research steps, procedures, processes and review stages in a successful residential real estate transaction that are normally provided by full service real estate brokerages in return for their sales commission.

Contact the Thomas & Kauffman Team if there are any real estate questions or needs you have: by phone/text at (512) 730-1252 or via email at info@AustinTxHomeSales.com. 

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Home sales in our Milwood neighborhood (78727 zip) were mostly about average in May with the exception of: our inventory remains very low; and our 7 home sellers got 1.7% OVER their asking price in only 4 days at 5.7% more than last year's sellers received.

Homes in the 78729 zip code of our neighborhood had better activity with: days on market falling in all 3 categories; only .30 months of inventory; 11 pending sales; 12 homes sold (our highest this year & 1st double-digit month since last Oct); our sellers received 6% OVER their asking price in only 5 days at a whopping 14.7% over 2018 prices! I surmise the higher activity in 78729 is probably due the fact that Apple is opening their new office off Parmer Ln across from Milwood in this zip code.

It’s not too late to get your home on the market to catch our spring/summer peak selling season! See just some of the steps we take to get your home sold quickly and for top dollar: Marketing Plan to Sell Your Home. Contact us today by phone/text at (512) 730-1252 or via email at info@AustinTxHomeSales.com if you would like a free, no-obligation market analysis (CMA) of your home to see how much you would net from the sale.

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April home sales in our Milwood (78727 zip code) neighborhood produced solid numbers with: all 3 days on market categories scoring in green; our inventory remains low; and our 8 home sellers got 2.0% OVER their asking price. Pending were a little low and the seller got slightly less/sf than 2018 sellers received.

Nothing to complain about with our 78729 zip code section of Milwood since there were NO yellow categories. As with 78727, all 3 days on market categories registered green; only home for sale dropped our inventory to an incredible .10 month; we had 11 Pending sales and our 7 home sellers got 9.8% more/sf than 2018 sellers did at 2.8% OVER their asking price!

Did you know you can exclude most, if not all of the taxable income from the gain on the sale of your home?  The IRS allows a seller to exclude from taxable income a gain of up to $250,000 on the sale of their home (or $500,000 if married filing jointly) if they:

• owned the home and used it as their principal residence during at least two of the last five years before the sale

• didn’t acquire the home through a 1031 exchange during the past five years

• didn’t exclude a gain on another home sold during the two years before the current sale

To learn more, see:  Excluding Gain from the Sale of Your Home.  It might make sense to cash-in on the large equity gain most Austin-area homeowners have seen since the bull market began in spring of 2011. Contact us today by phone/text at (512) 730-1252 or via email at info@AustinTxHomeSales.com if you would like a free, no-obligation market analysis (CMA) of your home to see how much you would net from the sale.

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March produced good, but not great numbers for homes in the 78727 sections of our Milwood neighborhood:  Only 3 homes for sale (out of 2,138); only .50 months of inventory (vs. 1.5/mo avg in 2018); lower days on market with 2 of the categories; and our 6 sellers received 4.4% more/sf than last year's sellers received.

With the exception of only 5 home sales (vs. our 7-8/mo avg) which took 49 days to get an offer, homes in our 78729 zip code had a solid month:  10 pending sales (+18% of our monthly avg); lower days on market for 2 categories; and our home sellers got 2% OVER their asking price at 9.1% more/sf than 2018 sellers received. 

With the upcoming Apple campus expansion in NW Austin, there is concern about adequate housing for not only the incoming employees, but also the increase in ancillary services needed like:  restaurants, stores, dry cleaning, etc. in the NW area.  If you’ve been curious about how much your home would sell for (not just using the county appraisal, Zestimate, etc which are all created using mathematical algorithms), let us at the Thomas & Kauffman Team create a market analysis that is based on actual recent sales of homes like yours.  There is no cost or obligation.  Contact us by phone/text at (512) 730-1252 or via email at info@AustinTxHomeSales.com.

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January was a great start to 2019 for our Milwood (78727 zip code) section with only 2 homes for sale (vs. 8.5/mo avg); only .30 months of inventory (the # of months it would take to sell all homes currently on the market at the current sales pace); and Activity ratio of 88% (100% is the maximum and we averaged 48% last year); and our 8 home sellers got $221.47/sf (+4.6% of 2018 sellers)!  Our days on market were high for all categories, but not too far out of range.

The 78729 section of our Milwood neighborhood fared very well in January, too with:  only 1 home for sale, .10 months of inventory; a whopping 90% Activity ratio; and 9 pending homes sales.  Like in 78727, days on market rose, but not too far (except for the 1 home for sale at 152 days). Also, our 9 sellers got .50% LESS than 2018 sellers received.

Are you curious about the value of your home?  For those home sellers who aren’t sure about selling this year, or just want a general idea of their home’s value, I recommend the “ Market Snapshot” program. This free service pulls data from our MLS (Multiple Listing Service) for similar homes in your neighborhood on a regular basis (every 2, 4, 6, 8, or 12 weeks) and emails it to the homeowner. Create one yourself for your home here:Market Snapshot. It takes about 30 minutes to receive your report. Or, let me know if you–or someone you know–wants me to create a Market Snapshot for their home.

If you are considering selling this year, contact the Thomas & Kauffman Team to receive a free, no obligation market analysis (CMA) for your home.  March, April & May are the most popular months to list a home for sale. Call us at 512-730-1252 (phone/text) or by email info@AustinTxHomeSales.com.

#MilwoodsHomeSales  #AustinHomeSales #Thomas&KauffmanTeam

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The 78727 section of our Milwood neighborhood finished the year strong with mostly green categories and some important ones like:  only 1.0 months of inventory, 11 pending sales (+38% from YTD avg), and an activity ratio at 65% (jumped 35% from YTD avg)

For all of 2018:

Our neighborhood didn't fare as well for 2018 with lots of yellow categories, some important like:  inventory jumped to 1.5 months (up 88% over 2017); activity ratio dropped to 48% (down 24%), and we averaged 8.5 homes for sale/mo (up 77% from 2017).  Our sales and pricing went up, however.  

The 78729 section of our Milwood neighborhood didn't fare as well as 78727 with a mixture of green and yellow categories.  Days on market went up for all 3 categories and we only sold 4 homes (half our YTD avg).  But, our activity ratio rose, pendings went up, and we only had 6 homes for sale.

For all of 2018:

Another mixed bag for 2018:  Positives = 8 homes sold/mo (+19%); pricing went up to $150.14/sf (+5.6%) while Negatives = too many homes for sale each month; inventory rose to 1.3 months (+48%); and activity ratio dropped to 46% (-28%).

It will be interesting to see the effects of the upcoming Apple campus expansion on all NW Austin neighborhoods in the coming years…I’m betting prices rise above the Austin metro area averages.

If you are considering selling this year, contact the Thomas & Kauffman Team to receive a free, no obligation market analysis (CMA) for your home.  April, May & June are the most popular months to list a home for sale.  Call us at 512-730-1252 (phone/text) or by email info@AustinTxHomeSales.com. 

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The brakes were sure turned on in our Milwood neighborhood (78727 zip code) in November with lots of yellow categories:  15 homes for sale (+72% of our YTD avg); only 5 pending sales (-35% of our YTD avg); only 3 home sales (-60% of our YTD avg); inventory jumped to 5.0 months (our highest this year and 333% over our YTD avg); and our Activity ratio dropped to 25%.  As we’ve reported on our blog recently, the home sales market–both locally and nationally–has been shifting from the strong seller’s market we’ve experienced for nearly 8 years.

The slowdown seen in the 78727 zip code of our Milwood neighborhood extended to the 78729 section, too, with no green categories and lots of yellow:  too many homes for sale (20% over our YTD avg); inventory jumped to 2.4 months (up 85%); days on market rose; we only sold 5 homes (40% less than our YTD avg) and the sellers got $121.43/sf (nearly 15% LESS than 2017 sellers received).

Did you know that 42% of homes sold in the Austin metro area sell during the 50% of the year from October to March?  A common myth is that you should only sell your home during the spring/summer months, but the above statistic proves that wrong.  Homes that are in great condition, staged properly and priced right sell year-long in our area.  Call/text the Thomas & Kauffman Team at 512-730-1252 or email us at info@AustinTxHomeSales.com to get your free, no-obligation market analysis (CMA) to see how much you can net from your home sale. 

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October brought a mixed bag for home sales in our Milwood (78727 zip) neighborhood with 10 home sales that got over their list price (100.4%) and sold for $2223.73/sf which was an incredible 14.3% more than 2017 sellers received.  Our biggest issue was and has been for the past 4 months:  too many homes for sale...especially heading into the slower winter season.

The 78729 zip code section of our Milwood neighborhood didn't fare as well with only one green category:  10 home sales.  Our days on market, activity ratio, lower pending sales and too many homes for sale (just like in 78727) .

For those home sellers who aren’t sure about selling this year, or just want a general idea of their home’s value, I recommend the “Market Snapshot” program. This free service pulls data from our MLS (Multiple Listing Service) for similar homes in your neighborhood on a regular basis (every 2, 4, 6, 8, or 12 weeks) and emails it to the homeowner. Create one yourself for your home here: Market Snapshot. It takes about 30 minutes to receive your report. Or, let me know if you–or someone you know–wants me to create a Market Snapshot for their home.

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September home sales in our Milwood neighborhood (78727 zip) slowed some, very much like what we are seeing in the Austin metro area:  13 homes for sale (vs. 7.4/mo YTD avg); days on market went up in all 3 categories; and our activity ratio dropped below our 53% YTD avg.  Our 8 home sellers, however, did get 16.9% more/sf than 2017 sellers received.

The 78729 zip code sections of Milwood fared about the same as the 78727 ones did:  Too many homes for sale; days on market up; and lower activity ratio.  Again, our home sellers got 9.3% more/sf than 2017 sellers received.

Did you know that 42% of homes sold in the Austin metro area sell during the 50% of the year from October to March?  A common myth is that you should sell your home during the spring/summer months, but the above statistic proves that wrong.  Homes that are in great condition, staged properly and priced right sell year-long in our area.  Call/text the Thomas & Kauffman Team 512-730-1252 or email us at info@AustinTxHomeSales.com to get your free, no-obligation market analysis (CMA) to see how much you can net from your home sale.  

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Home sales in our Milwood neighborhood (78727 zip code) slowed some over June.  Compared to this year's YTD averages: homes for sale were at 13 (+220%); inventory jumped to 2.6 months (+209%); Activity ratio dropped to 43% (-27%); and we only sold 5 homes (-33%).  On a positive note: we had 10 pending sales (+20%); our 5 home sellers got 1.9% OVER asking price and for $238.77/sf (+21.9%) and our days on market improved for all 3 categories.

Similar to our 78727 zip code homes, the 78729 zip code in our Milwood neighborhood showed signs of slowing in July:  13 homes for sale (+57%); inventory went to 1.6 months (+45%); days on market increased and our activity ratio dropped to 38% (-24%).  Like 78727, our home sellers got way over asking price at 10.4% more than 2017 sellers received.

For those home sellers who aren’t sure about selling this year, or just want a general idea of their home’s value, I recommend the “Market Snapshot” program. This free service pulls data from our MLS (Multiple Listing Service) for similar homes in your neighborhood on a regular basis (every 2, 4, 6, 8, or 12 weeks) and emails it to the homeowner. Create one yourself for your home here: Market Snapshot. It takes about 30 minutes to receive your report. Or, let me know if you–or someone you know–wants me to create a Market Snapshot for their home. 

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June was a slightly cooler month than May in our Milwood neighborhood (78727 zip) with higher actives; lower pendings and lower activity ratio.  Days on market were down and our 9 home sellers got over asking price at a whopping 16.4% higher price/sf than 2017 sellers received.  With half of the year behind us, here is how we look for some categories when compared to 2017:  Positives - our sales are up 10% and avg sold price/sf if up by 5.3%.  Negatives: days on market increased by 17-74% over the 3 categories; pendings down 8% and our rate of appreciation when compared to the previous year is down.

June was a solid home sales month for us in Milwood (78729 zip) with only .50 months of inventory (2nd lowest this year); 9 pending sales; and 15 home sales (highest this year) that sold for an average of 10.7% more than 2017 sellers received.  ith half of the year behind us, here is how we look for some categories when compared to 2017:  Positives - days on market down 36-39%; sales up 21%; and appreciation up 8.3%.  Negatives:  actives up 44%; inventory up 20%; and Activity ratio down 18%.

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Homes in our 78727 zip code of Milwood had another good month in May.  Our trend has been improving numbers as the year has progressed like:  only 3 homes for sale; only .30 months of inventory (our lowest this year); 77% hotness ratio (tied with our highest this year); 10 homes sales (tied with our highest this year); and our home sellers got contracts in only 5 days at 3.6% OVER their asking price and 8.9% higher than 2017 sellers received!

Homes in the 78729 zip code of our Milwood neighborhood had a decent month, but not quite as good as those in 78727:  our 16 pending sales are double our YTD avg; our Activity ratio rose to 62% (our highest this year); and our 6 sellers got contracts in 6 days at a whopping 17.2% MORE/sf than 2017 sellers received!

It’s not too late to get your home on the market to catch our spring/summer peak selling season! See just some of the steps we take to get your home sold quickly and for top dollar: Marketing Plan to Sell Your Home. Contact me today so I can create a free, no-obligation market analysis of your home (called a CMA) to see how much you would net from the sale of your home.

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April was the best month this year in our Milwood neighborhood (78727 zip code) with: low inventory of homes; high Activity Ratio; 12 Pending home sales (have contract but not closed); 9 home sales (44% higher than our YTD avg); sellers received more than their asking price in only 16 days and 4.6% more/sf than 2017 sellers received.  

Overall, April was an improvement for homes in our Milwood neighborhood (78729 zip code): 10 pending sales (59% higher than our YTD avg); and, our 9 home sellers got more than asking price in only 6 days at a whopping 14.6% more/sf than 2017 sellers got!

Are you considering selling your home, but are concerned that you will have difficulty finding a replacement in the Austin area due to our low inventory?  This is a common question we get when asking someone if they want to sell their home and capture the equity.  Our team has 4 different proven methods to handle the changeover for you to reduce any stress associated with the sale of your home & purchase of the next one. Contact us today so we can go over the best option for your situation. Phone: 512-730-1252 or via email: info@AustinTxHomeSales.com.

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Overall an improved month for our Milwood home sales (78727 zip code) with only 3 homes for sale (vs. 4/8/mo last year); our inventory dropped to only .50 months (less than 6 is a seller's market); our Pendings shot up to 10; and, our Activity Ratio also rose to 77%.  Our only real negatives were the days on market for our 6 sellers and that they only got .40% more/sf than sellers got last year.

The 78729 section of Milwood didn't fare as well as the 78727 section with 7 homes for sale (vs. 5/mo YTD avg); our inventory increased to 1.8 months ; our Activity Ratio was 50% (vs last year's 64%); and we only sold 4 homes (vs. 6.75/mo last year).  Our positives are the the 4 home sellers got 8.4% more/sf than our 2017 sellers received and days on market are down.

Would you like to know your home’s approximate value, recent sales in your neighborhood, and your estimated net equity…both today and on a regular basis in the future?  With ePropertyWatchTM, that information (and much more) comes directly to you.  This program is from CoreLogic who provides property AVMs (Automated Valuation Model) for 90% of the home mortgage lenders in the United States…they are the trusted source for accurate home valuations.  ePropertyWatchTM has information on over 100 million homes in the United States and each subscriber can have up to 3 properties on their report list.  So, whether you own a home in the Austin metro area, or anywhere in the U.S. you can use this service to keep tabs on your property value and net equity.

Best of all, it is a FREE service for you to use!  Click here to learn more about this program and to sign up for your free report: ePropertyWatch, or, click here to go directly to the sign-up page:ePropertyWatch-sign up form.  Feel free to forward this link to any friends, family, or coworkers you know…remember, any homeowner in the U.S. can utilize this service!  You have my assurance that I will NOT use any email address to send someone spam email!

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The overall slowdown we've seen since the first half of 2017 in our Milwood (78727 zip) neighborhood continued last month with: Inventory jumping to 2.5 months (2017 avg = .80); only 6 Pending sales (vs. 8.7/mo avg in 2017); we only sold 2 homes (2017 avg = 7/mo); and our days on market remain high in 2 categories.

Homes in the 78729 zip code of our Milwood neighborhood fared only slightly better in February with: lower days on market in 2 categories and our 3 home sellers received 24.6% MORE/sf than 2017 sellers received.  However, our inventory jumped to 1.7 months (2017 avg = .90); we only had 5 Pending sales (2017 avg = 9.1); and we only sold 3 homes (2017 avg = 6.75)

If you are considering selling this year, contact me to receive a free, no-obligation market analysis (CMA) of your home. April, May and June are the 3 best months of each year to put a home on the market to sell.

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January was a bit off for us in our Milwood neighborhood (78727 zip) with higher days on market, only 4 pending sales (less than half our 2017 avg) and our 7 sellers got an average of 5.9% less/sf than last year's sellers got.  Inventory was still low, however. 

Overall, an improved month from what we saw during the middle/latter part of 2017:  Low inventory of homes for sale; 10 homes sold (vs. our 6.75/mo avg in 2017) in only 11 days!  Activity ratio is a bit low and our sellers got a little less/sf than sellers got in 2017, however.  

Would you like to know your home’s approximate value, recent sales in your neighborhood, and your estimated net equity…both today and on a regular basis in the future?  With ePropertyWatchTM, that information (and much more) comes directly to you.  This program is from CoreLogic who provides property AVMs (Automated Valuation Model) for 90% of the home mortgage lenders in the United States…they are the trusted source for accurate home valuations.  ePropertyWatchTM has information on over 100 million homes in the United States and each subscriber can have up to 3 properties on their report list.  So, whether you own a home in the Austin metro area, or anywhere in the U.S. you can use this service to keep tabs on your property value and net equity.

Best of all, it is a FREE service for you to use!  Click here to learn more about this program and to sign up for your free report:ePropertyWatch, or, click here to go directly to the sign-up page:ePropertyWatch-sign up form.  Feel free to forward this link to any friends, family, or coworkers you know…remember, any homeowner in the U.S. can utilize this service!  You have my assurance that I will NOT use any email address to send someone spam email!

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December was better than November in our Milwood neighborhood (78727 zip code), but not by a lot:  we only had 2 homes for sale (out of 2,138) going into the slower winter season; 10 pending home sales which is above our YTD avg of 8.7; and our Activity ratio jumped up to 83%...our 2nd highest this year.  However, we only sold 3 homes (vs. our YTD avg of 7.0) and days on the market continue to be high.

How did we finish 2017?  Below are our averages for each category last year:

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December home sales ended on mostly a high note in our Milwood neighborhood (78729 zip code) with only 2 homes for sale going into the slower winter season; a whopping 12 pending sales (tied for our 2nd highest month this year); our Activity ratio jumped to 86% (our highest since April); and our days on market for both pendings and solds went down.  Our only negatives were just 2 sales (vs. 6.75/mo YTD avg); higher days on market for active listings; and lower sales price/sf.

How did we finish 2017?  Below are our averages for each category last year:

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Home sales in our Milwood neighborhood (78727 zip code) were off in November and looked much like August with: higher days on market; rising inventory to 1.5 months; and only 4 home sales (vs. 7.18/mo YTD avg and 7.25/mo in 2016).

We had a mixed bad of results for home sales in our Milwood neighborhood (78729 zip code).  On the plus side:  we only have 3 homes for sale (vs. our 5.5 YTD avg); our inventory dropped to .60 months (2/3 of our YTD avg); and our Activity ratio jumped to 70%.  On the negative:  our days on market continue to be high; we had 7 pendings (vs. 8.8/mo YTD avg) and we only sold 5 homes (vs. 7.09/mo YTD and 9.67/mo in 2016) and they got 3.6% LESS/sf than 2016 sellers got.

Would you like to know your home’s approximate value, recent sales in your neighborhood, and your estimated net equity…both today and on a regular basis in the future? With ePropertyWatchTM, that information (and much more) comes directly to you. This program is from CoreLogic who provides property AVMs (Automated Valuation Model) for 90% of the home mortgage lenders in the United States…they are the trusted source for accurate home valuations. ePropertyWatchTM has information on over 100 million homes in the United States and each subscriber can have up to 3 properties on their report list. So, whether you own a home in the Austin metro area, or anywhere in the U.S. you can use this service to keep tabs on your property value and net equity.

Best of all, it is a FREE service for you to use! Click here to learn more about this program and to sign up for your free report: ePropertyWatch, or, click here to go directly to the sign-up page: ePropertyWatch-sign up form. Feel free to forward this link to any friends, family, or coworkers you know…remember, any homeowner in the U.S. can utilize this service! You have my assurance that I will NOT use any email address to send someone spam email!

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September was a better month for home sellers in the 78727 zip code of our Milwood community:  we had 12 pending sales (vs. 9.1 avg this year and 6.8 avg in 2016); we had 10 sales (our 1st double-digit month since June) and our sellers got $189.45/sf (5.7% more than 2016 sellers got).  We still have too many homes for sale and our days on market continues to be troublesome. 

Home sales in the 78729 zip code of our Milwood neighborhood have experienced some of the slowdown seen across Austin the past several months.  The days on market for homes for sale and pendings are much higher than we saw last year; our Activity Ratio dropped to 44% (vs. 80-90% seen the first part of this year); and our 6 home sellers got only $142.58 (vs. $141.39/sf in 2016).  On the plus side, the sellers got 100% of their asking price in only 12 days. 

Did you know that 42% of homes sold in the Austin metro area sell during the 50% of the year from October to March?  A common myth is that you should sell your home during the spring/summer months, but the above statistic proves that wrong.  Homes that are in great condition, staged properly and priced right sell year-long in our area.  Call/text me at 512-853-0110 or email me at robert@AustinTxHomeSales.com to get your free, no-obligation market analysis (CMA) to see how much you can net from your home sale.  

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August was a poor showing for home sales in the 78727 zip code of our Milwood neighborhood with all yellow categories and no green ones.  We have nearly double the number of homes for sale as we've averaged this year; our inventory jumped to 2.0 months (our highest this year); we only sold 4 homes (60% of our YTD avg) and they took twice the number of days to sell as other sellers this year.

This summer hasn't been good for home sales in the 78729 zip code of our Milwood neighborhood.  Consider:  We still have too many homes for sale (nearly double our YTD avg); they have been on the market for 3 times the number of days as our YTD avg; our inventory is 1.4 months (still very good, but 50% higher than our YTD avg); and our Activity ratio dropped to 38% (vs. our YTD avg of 64%).  Our bright spots was the average sales price for our 7 homes that sold was 8.2% over last year's average.

Are you considering selling your home next year? I recommend starting your research now into what is needed to get your home ready for the market next spring (when our market activity increases and continues through the summer).  Getting your home in tip-top shape will be especially important if the shift from a seller’s market to a buyer’s market continues next year.  Here is a good website that has a broad range of information for home sellers you might find useful: Tips on Selling Your Home. And, here are links to vendor websites to find contractors:  Angie’s List    Pro Referral   Home Advisor

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Home sales with our 78727 zip code in Milwood was slower in July than June with: 8 homes for sale (double our YTD avg); inventory shot up to 1.1 months (nearly double our .60 YTD avg); and our Activity Ratio dropped to 47% (vs. our 70% YTD avg). Our bright spot was our 7 home sellers who got 1.9% OVER their asking price and at $210.51/sf which is 17.4% more than 2016 sellers got!

July was a slower month than June in our Milwood neighborhood (78729 zip code): We have more than double the number of homes for sale as we've averaged; our inventory shot up to 2.8 months (vs. our .80 YTD avg); our Activity Ratio remains below our 68% YTD avg; and we only sold 4 homes (about half our YTD avg).

For those home sellers who aren’t sure about selling this year, or just want a general idea of their home’s value, I recommend the “ Market Snapshot” program. This free service pulls data from our MLS (Multiple Listing Service) for similar homes in your neighborhood on a regular basis (every 2, 4, 6, 8, or 12 weeks) and emails it to the homeowner. Create one yourself for your home here: Market Snapshot. It takes about 30 minutes to receive your report. Or, let me know if you–or someone you know–wants me to create a Market Snapshot for their home.
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Homes in the 78727 portion of our Milwood neighborhood fared better than those in 78729: Our 11 pending sales was the 3rd month in a row of double-digits (our YTD avg is 8.7); our 7 home sellers got 2.2% OVER their asking price and they sold for $209.27/sf (16.7% over last year's home sellers). And, while our 4 homes for sale is up from our 3.2 YTD avg, both it and the days on market are up only slightly.

Home sales in June were mixed for our Milwood (78729 zip code) neighborhood: Our homes for sale shot up to 11 (2.5 times our YTD avg and our 1st double-digit month this year); this pushed our inventory to 1.0 months (double our YTD avg); our Activity Ratio has dropped the past 3 months in a row; and our 11 home sellers got only 1.8% more/sq ft than 2016 home sellers got.

You will notice that I’ve added a new category to replace the “Hotness Ratio”….the “Activity Ratio”. The AR is similar to the HR in that it is a future indicator of the direction our market is heading by comparing how many homes went under contract (ie-Pending) compared to the number of homes for sale. The HR compared Pendings to For Sale, while the ARA compares Pendings to (For Sale + Pendings). A slight difference, but the AR has a maximum cap of 100% while the HR had a max cap of 1,000%. I feel that most people understand the 0 -100 range better since more metrics we see frequently (like grades in school, etc) are based on the 0-100 range. There is no hard and fast rule about what makes a good AR number, but, generally, 25%+ represents a strong market. For instance, if 2 homes are Pending and there are 6 homes for sale, the AR is 25% [2 / (6+2) = 25%]. An AR of 50% would represent a very hot market since the For Sale and Pendings would be the same [ie-6 / (6+6) = 50%].
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May home sales in the 78727 zip code section of our Milwood neighborhood had another great month, very similar to April's numbers: Only 1 yellow (4 homes for sale vs. our 3/mo YTD average...very minor deviation) and all of the rest were green categories! The nice thing is that our pending home sales numbers have increased 4 months in a row; our Hotness ratio jumped to 300%; and our 9 home sellers got 2.7% OVER their asking price in only 3 days at $198.04/sf (10.5% over last year's average)!

There was a slight slowdown in May for home sales in the 78729 section of our Milwood neighborhood, but only when comparing to our phenomenal month in April with all green categories. We still had a good, solid month and we blew the doors off with 12 home sales! That is our first double-digit month this year and is 62% over our monthly average!
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Homes in the 78727 section of our Milwood neighborhood fared nearly as well as those in 78729: We only had 1 yellow category; our days on market were all better than average; we had 10 Pendings (our best month since last June) who went under contract in only 5 days; and got 10% more/sf than home sellers did in 2016!

Homes in the 78729 zip code of our Milwood neighborhood had a fantastic month with no yellow categories! We only had 2 homes for sale (out of 2,515 in our neighborhood); very low .30 months of inventory; an incredible 900% Hotness ratio; days on market fell in ALL 3 categories; we had 18 Pending sales (ie-have contract but not closed) which has happened only twice in the past 2 years; and our 7 home sellers got offers in only 4 days for 3.7% more/sf than 2016 sellers got. What a month!
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Home sales in our Milwood (78727 zip) fared much better than our 78729 did: our days on market fell for all 3 categories; our inventory remains low at only .40 months; our Hotness ratio was high at 233% (we are running 62% higher this year than 2016); our 7 home sellers got 1.3% MORE than their asking price and got $205.93/sf (14.9% more than 2016 home sellers).

We had 9 homes sell in our Milwood neighborhood (78729 zip) last month (our highest this year); our days on market fell for 2 of the 3 categories; and our inventory remains low at only .70 months (less than 6 is a Seller's Market). However, we have too many homes for sale; too few Pending sales; and our 9 home sellers got 3.9% less than home sellers got last year.

For those home sellers who aren’t sure about selling this year, or just want a general idea of their home’s value, I recommend the “ Market Snapshot” program. This free service pulls data from our MLS (Multiple Listing Service) for similar homes in your neighborhood on a regular basis (every 2, 4, 6, 8, or 12 weeks) and emails it to the homeowner. Create one yourself for your home here: Market Snapshot. It takes about 30 minutes to receive your report. Or, let me know if you–or someone you know–wants me to create a Market Snapshot for their home.
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Homes for sale in our Milwood (78727 zip) remain very low with only 2 homes (out of 2,138 homes); our Hotness ratio of 250% is over our 195% of 2016; and our days on market of homes for sale and pending are very low. On the down side: we only had 2 home sales (vs. 7.25/mo in 2016) which took 27 days to get offers and sold for 97% of their asking price and less/sf than sellers got in 2016.

February home sales in our Milwood (78729 zip) neighborhood fell off some from January: We only had 2 home sales (vs. 9.7/mo in 2016); the sellers got just slightly over last year's prices and took 49 days to get offers. On the plus side: we only have 1 home for sale (out of 2,515); our inventory of .50 homes is lower than in 2016; and our Hotness ratio shot up to 900% (vs. 160% in 2016).

If you are considering selling this year, contact me to receive a free, no-obligation market analysis (CMA) of your home. April, May and June are the 3 best months of each year to put a home on the market to sell.
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We had incredible activity in January (one of our traditionally slowest months) in our Milwood (78727) neighborhood with: Only 1 home for sale (down 71% from 2016) out of 2,138 homes; only .10 months of inventory (down 89%); 700% Hotness ratio (up 259%); 7 Pending sales; and, 13 home sales (up 79%). Our biggest negatives were the ADOM which should come down as we near spring.

Front-end activity (ie-leading up to a sale) increased quite a bit in our Milwood (78729) neighborhood when compared to Dec/2016: Only 3 homes for sale (down 62% from 2016); .40 months of inventory (down 46%); Hotness ratio of 400% (up 150%); and a for sale ADOM of 18 (down 51%). Our 7 home sales were 28% less than 2016, however, with lower prices, too.

Contact me today to set up your free, no-obligation Market Snapshot. This will provide you with timely reports about home sales activity in your neighborhood...with data straight from our Austin MLS.
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We ended 2016 on a high note: Only 2 homes for sale; which held our inventory to .30 months for the 2nd month in a row; our 4 Pending sales got offers in only 5 days; and our 8 home sellers got 18.2% more than 2015 sellers got.

Here is how we fared in 2016 with homes in the 78727 zip code of our Milwood neighborhood:

Generally, our numbers looked better than the 78729 zip code with: Only 3.5 months of inventory (41% less than our YTD avg); Hotness ratio was 20% higher; and our average sold price was 15% more than we saw in 2015. On the downside, the number of pending sales was down 30% and our sales were down 10%.

We ended 2016 with improvement in December overall compared to the last few months with: only 2 homes for sale going into our slower winter months; which reduced our inventory to .30 months (our lowest month of the year; our Hotness ratio shot up to 450% (triple our YTD avg); and our 8 home sellers got 10% higher prices than 2015 sellers got.

Here is how 78729 zip code did for all of last year in our Milwood neighborhood:

As you can see, we had slowing activity overall with: more homes for sale each month; they were on the market an average of 59% longer; and, we sold 16 fewer homes (down 12%). Our one bright spot was our home prices which increased an average of 8% over 2015 home prices.
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Activity in the 78727 zip code of Milwood fared better last month than the 78729 zip code with many more green categories: Only 2 homes for sale which dropped our inventory to the 2nd lowest of this year; our Hotness shot up to 350% (our 3rd highest); our 6 home sellers got OVER their asking prices and sold for an average of $189.32/sf which was nearly 20% over last year's sellers! Our only negatives were days on market trending higher.

We had some bright spots for home sales in our Milwood neighborhood (78729 zip code) with only 6 homes for sale (below our YTD average which is important going into the traditionally slower winter months); our Hotness ratio rebounded to 183% vs. last month's 73%; and our 5 home sellers got $148.72/sf which was 13.6% more than sellers got in 2015. Days on market continue to be a problem the last half of this year as does our 5 home sales which was nearly half our YTD average.

Did you know that–according to the National Association of Realtors–92% of home buyers start their search online; 76% drove by the home to look at it; and 44% bought the home they found? Obviously, having your home well represented requires not only having it in the Austin MLS, but also in the hundreds of home websites that are available to home buyers. Keller Williams has a proprietary listing system the sends our client’s homes to over 900 of the most popular websites to give the home the best chance of getting an offer quickly. Here is a link to my home marketing plan so you can see just what I will do to get it sold if you hire me: Marketing Plan to Sell Your Home. This is a good time of year to make decisions if you are thinking of selling next spring when our market begins to heat up each year.
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Homes in the 78727 zip code of our Milwood neighborhood face similar issues as those in 78729: Too many homes for sale; higher inventory; lower Hotness ratio; too many days on market (ADOM); and lower home sales.

Homes for sale in our Milwood neighborhood continue to be high, especially heading into the slower fall/winter months. In addition, our inventory of 1.8 months is the highest of this year; our Hotness ratio was nearly half our YTD average in October; our days on market (ADOM) continues to increase; and we only sold 6 homes...our lowest this year and 40% off our YTD average. Our bright spot is the prices our 6 home sellers got: $159.40/sf, or 21% over last year's prices! If you need to sell this year, make sure your home is in great condition and price it below the average of your competing homes.

For those home sellers who aren’t sure about selling this year, or just want a general idea of their home’s value, I recommend my Market Snapshot program. This FREE service pulls data from our MLS (Multiple Listing Service) on a regular basis (every 2, 4, 6, 8, or 12 weeks) and emails it to the homeowner. Here is a link to a sample report so you can see what information is provided: Market Snapshot – Sample report. Let me know if you--or someone you know--wants me to create a Market Snapshot for their home. I frequently hear that home sellers and buyers simply utilize a feature on the Zillow website called a Zestimate to determine a home’s value. This is not recommended in Texas because Texas is one of the few “non-disclosure” states, meaning that home sales are not reported to the local appraisal district like they are in other states. While other states get fresh data to feed their county appraisals, in Texas, Zillow is relegated to using mathematical algorithms to “guesstimate” a home's value which is why they are seldom accurate, either. So, in other states, Zestimates are much more accurate than here in Texas. The CMA program I use has a page included which pulls in Zestimates for the property and it is not unusual to see Zestimate values off by 10-15%...worthless to use for any serious market valuation.
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The sales figures for the 78727 zip code area of our Milwood neighborhood were remarkably similar to 78729 (below) in September: Too many listings; higher days on the market; inventory up; and our Hotness ratio down (1/3 our YTD avg). Our 6 sellers got over asking price with an average sales price/sf ($179.75) that was 13.8% over 2015 home sellers.

The number of listings in our Milwood (78729 zip) neighborhood has remained high for the last 5 months which has increased the number of days on the market for all 3 categories. It has also pushed our months of inventory (the number of months it would take to sell all homes at the current sales pace) up some to 1.10 months--which is still way below a buyers market figure of 6+ months. Our Hotness ratio has been about half our YTD average for the past 2 months. On a positive note, our 11 home sellers got over asking price an sold for $153.66/sf which was an incredible 17.4% more than last years sellers received.

Did you know that 42% of homes sold in the Austin metro area sell during the 50% of the year from October to March? A common myth is that you have to sell your home during the spring/summer months, but the above statistic proves that wrong. Homes that are in great condition, staged properly, and priced right sell year-long in our area. Call/text me at 512-853-0110 or email me at robert@AustinTxHomeSales.com to get your free, no-obligation market analysis (CMA) to see how much you can net from your home sale.
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Home sales in our Milwood neighborhood bounced back in August with 11 sales (+40% from our YTD avg) and they got 2.1% over asking price in only 6 days averaging $185.62/sf (+17.5% over 2015); our inventory also dropped back to only .50 months (from 1.2 in July). Our negatives were: 6 homes for sale (vs. our 3.3/mo avg) which have been on the market for 34 days; our Hotness ratio plunged to 117% (vs. our 242% avg) and our Pending sales have been on the market for 20 days (nearly twice our avg).

Home sales continue strong in our Milwood neighborhood with 12 sold in August at $144.02/sf (+10% over 2015 sellers). However, our front-end activity has slowed for another month with: 15 homes for sale (nearly double our YTD avg); they have been on the market for 33 days; risen our inventory to 1.3 months (tied for our highest this year); caused our Hotness ratio to drop to 80% (vs. our 179% avg); and our 12 Pending sales have been on the market over twice as long at 28 days vs our avg of 13.

Have you decided not to sell this year, but you might want to next year? I recommend starting your research into what is needed to get your home ready for the market next spring (when our market activity increases and continues through the summer). Here is a good website that has a broad range of information for home sellers you might find useful: Selling Your Home.

Also, future home sellers will want to see what homes are selling for in both their neighborhood and any neighborhoods where they might purchase their replacement home. For home sales statistics (straight from the source of all data…the Austin MLS), I recommend Market Snapshot, a free, no-obligation service I offer. Here is a more information: Market Snapshot. To find information about homes for sale anywhere in the Austin metro area, I recommend downloading this Keller Williams application to your cell phone which allows you to find home listing details while driving around, or by doing a manual map search: KW Home Search App. This, too, is a free application. Call or text me at 512-853-0110 or by email robert@AustinTxHomeSales.com to receive either or both of these great applications.
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Not one of the better months this year in our Milwood neighborhood: we have 7 homes for sale which is over twice our YTD monthly avg; this pushed up our inventory to 1.2 months (double our YTD avg); and dropped our Hotness ratio to 129% (less than half our YTD avg). Our 6 home sales were slightly below our yearly average, but they did get $187.10/sf which was 18.5% more than 2015 sellers got and they received offers in only 3 days! If you need to sell this year, make sure your home is in great condition and priced aggressively.

Except for having too many homes for sale in our Milwood neighborhood, we had a pretty good month: our 18 Pendings are the highest this year (& nearly 50% more than 2015’s avg); we had 13 home sales; sellers got over their asking price in only 9 days and sold for $147.90/sf (13% over last year’s sellers)! Our Hotness ratio would have been higher with fewer homes for sale.

It is NOT too late to sell your home this year! In spite of our traditional strong spring/early summer selling season, we still typically sell over 50% of our homes during the last 6 months of the year. I can provide you with a CMA (comparative market analysis) to show you how much your home is worth…just call/text me at 512-853-0110, or email me at robert@AustinTxHomeSales.com. If needed, I can also help you get your home ready for the market, including staging your home.